Oregon Republican Party opens three statewide primaries to non-affiliated voters

UPDATE: Secretary of State Kate Brown, a Democrat, cheered the decision by the Republican Party to partially open its primary to non-affiliated voters. She said both parties should fully open their primaries to unaffiliated voters because so many people -- more than a fifth of the electorate -- don't have a voice in choosing the party nominees.

However, Brown said it also isn't clear yet whether the state can simply include the three Republican statewide primaries in the ballot that is mailed to all non-affiliated voters or whether some other method will have to be used.

"It's going to take some time to work through this with our county clerks to see how we could actually institute this," she said.

The Oregon Republican Party, seeking to become more competitive in a state where most major offices are held by Democrats, announced Monday that it will open its May primary for three statewide offices to non-affiliated voters.

Oregon Republican Chairman Allen Alley said the party will allow these voters to cast ballots in the primary races for attorney general, secretary of state and treasurer. However, non-affiliated voters won't be allowed to vote in the presidential primary, in legislative primaries or in any partisan races for local office.

Both parties have tried open primaries in the past. The Republicans held them in 1990 and 1992 but abolished them after many party regulars argued that only GOP members should get to choose the party's nominees. The Democrats held open primaries in 1998 and 2000 but found the process too cumbersome once mail balloting started being used in all elections.

Greg Leo, the Oregon GOP's chief of staff, said the Republicans will run their "freedom primary," as they are dubbing it, in a different manner. Unlike the Democratic experiment in past years, non-affiliated voters won't have to request a ballot. Instead, the more than 420,000 non-affiliated voters in the state will automatically receive a primary ballot that includes those statewide races.

Leo said Republican leaders believe this "exposes our candidates to non-affiliated voters and builds loyalty...We think there is a greater likelihood they will vote for them in the general."

Voters registered in one of the state's minor parties -- such as the Independent or Libertarian party -- would not be allowed to participate in the Republican primary.

Leo said national Republican rules prohibit allowing non-affiliated voters -- who make up about 21 percent of the Oregon electorate -- from participating in the presidential primary.

He said the state Republican central committee, which approved the new plan in a meeting Saturday in Albany, also decided not to include legislative candidates because they wanted to test the concept just in statewide races.

UPDATE: Trent Lutz, executive director of the state Democratic Party, said Democrats haven't decided yet what to do in this year's primary. But he said he doubted that Democrats would open it up to unaffiliated voters.

"The Democratic Party has historically taken the position that it is up to the party members to choose their leaders," said Lutz. He added that he was skeptical that allowing non-affiliated voters to participate in the Republican party "would fool them into becoming more beholden" to GOP candidates.

At this point, it's not clear if the Republicans will have any competitive primaries in the statewide races. So far, no Republican has yet come forward to run in either the attorney general or treasurer races, although Leo said the party is working to recruit candidates for both posts before the March 6 deadline.

In the secretary of state race, Republican Knute Buehler, a Bend orthopedic surgeon, has launched a well-funded race for the seat. He has one primary opponent, Randy Pollock, a Grants Pass commercial truck driver. But Leo said he has heard that Pollock is stepping aside in favor of Buehler.

Leo said Republican leaders understand they need to appeal to non-affiliated voters to have any chance of winning statewide elections. Just under 32 percent of voters are registered Republican while just over 41 percent of the state's voters are registered Democrats.

Alley, the party chairman, said in a press release:

"We
believe that the Republican Party messages of responsible, responsive
and efficient government coupled with fostering economic prosperity are
not just Republican values, they are values that non-affiliated voters
and even Democrats can embrace. Non-affiliated voters are the only
group that has not been allowed to cast a ballot in primary elections
for partisan state offices. The Oregon GOP is sending them a message:
we want you.”